30/40 Krag Range Report

[wildcat junkie]

Got out to the range today. One of the things I wanted to accomplish was range testing some incremental loads worked up with the Hornady FTX 30396 bullets designed for the .308 Marlin Express. These are tougher construction than the 30395 bullets designed for the 30/30. After having the 30395 bullet disintegrate on a 120 yd hit that struck a whitetail buck's neck vertebrae, a conversation with Hornady determined that I was exceeding the design envelope of that particular bullet by several hundred FPS. The 30396 bullet was designed for the Mv that the Krag was churning out, but the pointier ogive gave me concern as to whether the bullets would suffer in accuracy due to the longer jump to the lands that would occur.

 

I loaded 5 rounds each in 2 different OAL (3.100" and 3.150") with powder charges of 50.0, 50.5 and 51gr of Alliant Reloder 17. I had no sight black & the brass bead, great for in the woods on brown fur, was quite difficult to see on the targets. As the sun receded I was able to get a better sight picture & was able to get off a pretty good group @ 50yds.

 

50gr of RL-17 2 3.150" OAL seemed to be the sweet spot for the old Krag. I did have 1 flter that was probably my fault, but it plunked 4 shots into a nice tight group considering that I was using iron sights..

 

[Pygmy]

Nothing wrong with THAT group, Dan....Looks like a winner to me...

[turkeyfeathers]

You lost me on the technical jargon but that grouping did not !! Great shooting with iron sights Wildcat That would be a great grouping with optics for that matter


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[wildcat junkie]

20 hours ago, wildcat junkie said:

 

I hope these bullets hold together better than the others. My Mv is just a hair over what the 308 Marlin Express churns up. I was about 300 fps above the envelope for the 30/;30 bullets.

[wildcat junkie]

I was using a 6:00 hold on that 8" bull so the gun is shooting about 4" high at 50 yds with the rear sight screwed all the way down, That would be over 7" high at 100 & it would top out about 9" high at 175 yds. Way too much trajectory to allow for to suit my tastes. The front sight s a .055" thick flat plate with a 3/32" gold bead that is pinned to a ramp of sorts. It is .425" from top to bottom.

 

I can get a .570" high Marble's sight like the one bellow. cut the dovetail off & file the sides flat to fit the slot and pin it like the original. That should end up about .470" high which will drop the POI at 100 yds by about 6 1/4". That will allow me some adjustment on the receiver sight to bring it to 3" high at 100 yds. That will be about the top of the trajectory & it will hit dead on at around 200 yds. 50 yds will be about 2" high and at 15 yds it will drive tacks.

Edited October 16, 2016 by wildcat junkie